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83

Game Chronicles

Crash Bandicoot is just as much a household name as Mario, Sonic, or Donkey Kong. This fuzzy little creature got his start back on the PS One just when 3D platform games were catching on and the rest is history. With more sequels than I care to count, Crash Twinsanity marks this loveable character’s second appearance on the Xbox, and probably the best installment in the franchise since the original.

Bugs aside, Travellers Tales has developed an incredible, hilarious, frolicsome adventure that will make you laugh with vigor. If you are still waiting for the return of Crash Bandicoot, you obviously let this 2004 title slip under your radar. This is the last great game in the main franchise, before Radical Entertainment and Sierra slaughtered the memory of Crash with that filth Crash of the Titans.

Let me ask you a serious question. Think of any game you've played that had, as part of its storyline, an intense rivalry between a hero and a villain: Cloud and Sephiroth, Solid Snake and Big Boss, Chris Redfield and Albert Wesker, Jak and Daxter (because that little bastard is up to something and we all know it), or whoever else you care to name.

Ever have a friend who was dating one of the ugliest girls in school? You'd see them holding hands on their way to class and wonder what in God's name he saw in her. After enough time, you'd ask the question and he'd tell you one word: personality. And it goes a long way.

Having been a Crash Bandicoot fan since the early PlayStation titles, it’s hard for a fan to admit that the series was beginning to feel repetitive and finally dated. After all, the recent crop of platform games has pushed the genre to exciting new heights (e.g. Ratchet and Clank, the Jax games and even Sly Cooper’s two great platform games). On the Xbox, platform games have been coming in slow and having released two very mediocre Crash games, Crash Twinsanity hopes to change gamers’ minds. Filled with humor and playable secondary characters, Twinsanity is a twisted ride and Crash’s best game to date.

Players willing to look past Crash Twinsanity's faults should find a fun if somewhat familiar experience. History repeats for platforming heroes. For the foreseeable future, Mario and Bowser will continue trading Princess Peach back and forth, and Sonic and Eggman will continue to squabble over chaos emeralds. It seemed that Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex would remain locked in a similar struggle, but now Traveller's Tales has forced these archenemies to work together in Crash Twinsanity.

If I weren't such a fan of really absurd cartoon violence, this game would have a lower score. I've never really bought into the whole line of Crash Bandicoot games, but what I do know is that they were, at least at first, Sony's version of the "mascot platformer" in Mario and Sonic style. Crash has endured a surprisingly long time given that most critical reviews seem to find his games pretty darned mediocre, and with Twinsanity, I got to see why for myself. I'm still a bit confused over how he's made it this far, but I'm not gonna complain.

I think that Twinsanity just missed a step - it doesn't fall into a bottomless pit or scale any pinnacle of goodness - the game fails somewhere in between these two fates. Parts of Crash and Cortex's adventure honestly cracked me up. I like the Odd Couple dynamic they have going on, and I think that Traveller's Tales plays it up with skill. On the other hand, the controls feel uniformly sluggish - making the interesting (and refreshingly difficult) level design an utter pain rather than a good time.

Bandicoot fans who've been anxiously waiting the next release after The Wrath of Cortex will probably be more forgiving of (or at least familiar with) Crash Twinsanity's shortcomings. But for everyone else, they'll find it to be a good platformer buoyed by some interesting gameplay concepts and hindered by certain design flaws. Pick it up for a rental, and go from there.

Poor Dr. Neo Cortex. Time after time he develops some insidious plot to take over the world, only to get beaten and humiliated by Crash Bandicoot. But what sucks for the doctor has always been the best part of the Crash games, since the mascot is somewhat bereft of personality.

Indeed, as the game is, it's a peculiar creation. On the one hand it is clearly designed with children in mind, while on the other it is difficult even in the realm of oft-tricky 3D platformers. The game gives no quarter, and seldom is this more keenly felt than on the inexperience of youth. Altogether the game is nothing short of average - it impresses occasionally, but disappoints and frustrates more often than not. With many superior games on the market, it's hard to recommend something which can be so acutely felt as a missed opportunity, even to fans of Crash Bandicoot. As a comical cartoon caper it succeeds, however as a return to grace for the aging bandicoot that is Crash, this is a disappointing letdown, and one that could well have been avoided were more time and consideration taken.

There is very little in terms of plot or gameplay that made me interested in getting to the next level. There’s very little in the sense of accomplishment for completing some tasks because much of the difficulty of completing them isn’t because of any lack of skill but because of design flaws.